Afghanistan - With my recent meeting of the Vice President of Afghanistan, I have gotten very interested in taking a trip to the
country. I seem to have some good contacts now in the country, but it will take some time to see how everything will work out
and how realistic this trip is. If I make this crazy vacation I'll focus in the central and northern areas of Afghanistan. Travel will
likely be at the end of the summer since I'm back to 0 in my vacation days from my month like trip in South America.
1/10/07 - Some photos of Washington DC and Virginia have just been added. I didn't take the greatest photos but since DC is
so close I'll constantly upgrade it over time. After living here for 25 years I finally visited the area as a tourist!
Next Three Possible Trips
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Western Europe - To me western Europe has always been the most accessible destination next to Canada and Mexico. I've
always preferred trips to more exotic countries, but since its been so long since I did a trip to Europe I think its about time for me
to return. Another issue is my Europe pages definitely are in need of some more photos, so if I go I would probably visit places
such as Germany, Scandinavia or Spain.
The States - In March 2007 I decided to visit all of the 50 states and treat them each as different countries. A few weeks
before I would never haven taken a trip inside the US because I'd rather visit a new country, but after a short trip to Boston I
finally realized how much I've been missing out. I decided to start from scratch and revisit all the states, even those I used to live
in. Since March 2007 I have added 17 new states to my website. Most recently I went to Tennessee at the end of May, and
North Carolina in the beginning of July. I'm also looking at the possibility of a trip out west some time in August.
Destinations: Aconcagua, Africa, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei,
Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Delaware, Ecuador, Egypt, Elbrus, Europe, Florida, France, Galapagos, Georgia, Greece,
Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Middle East, Missouri, Namibia,
Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, New Zealand, North America, Oceania, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Rhode Island, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South America, South Carolina, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan,
Tanzania, Texas, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, Wyoming.
2/1/07 - I have made my trip to Egypt and Jordan, and did everything I had planned on. The new pages are also up and running.
3/9/07 - My trip to New England was 100% successful. I was able to climb Mt. Washington and also visit parts of New
Hampshire, and the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The only bad part of this trip was the weather, which was mostly
overcast and extremely cold, so some photos didn't come out as well as I had hoped.
3/28/07 - Back in business! I received my new passport today so now I'm able to start planning again for trips. My old passport
was damaged during my trip to Russia and had to be returned for a brand new one. I immediately started the visa process for
Iran and I hope there will still be time for me to go.
4/5/07 - I'm back from my trip to Puerto Rico. Unfortunately I didn't get to do everything I had planned on but I did do the
majority of it. The Arecibo Observatory was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and I didn't make it out to Culebra Island.
4/30/07 - I did a short trip to Maryland and Delaware and have added the pictures already for those places. I bought airfare to
Turkey on May 19th, so I'll be going there for sure now. If I get the visa to Iran then I'll combine a trip there with Turkey, if that
doesn't work out then I'll probably go to Turkey and other places like Lebanon, Syria or countries in eastern Europe. I probably
won't know about the visa to Iran until the second week of May so it gives me very little time to make this work.
6/10/07 - The trip to Iran didn't work out so instead I went to Southern Africa. With only a few days until my trip to Iran and no
visa, I was able to cancel my flight for credit and instead went to Africa. I was actually very happy with what I got to do with
such short notice. There are always so many more things to see but overall I feel that I experienced a lot. I traveled to Botswana,
Namibia and South Africa. I definitely have a lot more to see in all places, but in Namibia I accomplished the most. When I got
home I found that Iran did give me the visa while I was traveling in Africa. The visa is good for 3 more months, but now that I've
used up all of my vacation days I really doubt I'll be able to go.
6/26/07 - My friend and I spontaneously decided to do a weekend trip to West Virginia. I didn't expect much but I was pretty
surprised with how much fun I had. We mostly went hiking up in the mountains, but we also visited the capital Charleston and the
nuclear bunker created by the US government to be a back up location if DC was ever under attack.
7/9/07 - Finally after growing up and seeing Yellowstone in both cartoons and all over National Geographic, I got to see it in
person. Yellowstone was definitely the focus of my trip, but I visited other parts of Wyoming, drove through the eastern part of
Idaho, and spent two days in Salt Lake City, Utah. It took me a while, but I created new pages for all three states, as well a
separate one dedicated to Yellowstone National Park.
8/13/07 - The Mt. Garibaldi climb I had set out for was met with defeat because of poor weather near the summit. We got
within a few hours of the summit but terrible visibility forced us to turn back around. The next day I had pretty good weather and
I returned to Vancouver and also explored some of the wilderness of British Columbia, Canada.
8/22/07 - Some old friends from the Marines got together in Wisconsin for a small VMFA-115 reunion. I hadn't seen either of
them in a few years so it was good catching up. I also was able to see most of the state so I added Wisconsin to my site.
9/10/07 - The state of Missouri has been conquered! I went to Missouri and hiked in the Ozarks, visited St. Louis and Kansas
city as well as other places of interest. I also visited parts of Illinois even though that wasn't the focus of my trip. I'll have to return
there later to see Chicago and the capital.
9/24/07 - I think I've been visiting too many states in the US. My next place will definitely be out of the country other than a local
weekend road trips like the one I did to Pennsylvania last weekend. As of now I plan to visit Japan, Malasyia and Brunei again
in late October early November. Unfortunately it will be the rainy season in southeast Asia but it seems like the best trip to do
logistically. I've been to Japan many times so I'll do better this time at exploring Tokyo while in Malaysia and Brunei I'll have a lot
of new places to explore.
9/1/07 - It seems I have over trained for my next mountain climb and I have somehow hurt my hip. It really worries me since I'm
afraid it will get worse or delay my training so I won't be in shape come this winter. I plan to rest for a few weeks and hope it
gets better. If I can't climb Aconcagua this winter I have no idea what I'll do instead.
11/6/07 - Another two countries have been knocked out, I visited Malaysia and Brunei plus some new parts of Japan. The
photos have all been uploaded already. I actually have only 4 weeks until I'm supposed to go to Sudan. The visa process started
in mid October before I did this trip to Asia so I'll check on the embassy when I return.
11/26/07 - This past weekend I visited New York City and added the photos to my site, staying mostly in Manhattan. New
York City was an impressive place, its hard to believe its only 4 hours away and I've never been there before!
1/5/08 - Georgia, Florida and a few more pictures of South Carolina have been added to my website. I did a trip for New
Years and went to Savannah, Georgia camping on Cumberland Island, St. Augustine and Disney World in Florida, then to Hilton
Head South Carolina. I still have much more to do and see in all 3 states, such as Miami, Florida Keys, and the city Atlanta.
1/23/08 - I went to Sudan for vacation and survived! Of all the countries I've been to, Sudan had the most strict laws regarding
photography, and ironically I put more photos of Sudan than any other country on my website. I didn't meet any travelers in
Sudan except for those by the Red Sea. Other westerners I saw in the capital where all there for humanitarian work or business.
One man I met congratulated me for going out, as he said everyeone else he knew only stayed at their hotel after work. I saw
many parts of Sudan, from the center, the north and a road trip I did to the east as well. Click here for photos.
2/15/08 - I just left Santiago Chile a few days ago and I'm currently in Mendoza, Argentina ready to climb Mt. Aconcagua. I
have already put new photos of Santiago and Mendoza on my website, but will not make any other updates until March.
3/5/08 - The top of the western hemisphere was reached! I climbed Aconcagua and have checked off another one of the 7
summits off my list. At 22,841 feet this is the second highest of the 7 summits, which means the only higher mountain I have is
Mt. Everest. I still have some days off until I have to return to home, so I will visit Bolivia or some new local country before
heading back. From now on, I will continue to make updates daily to my website until its time to work again.
3/30/08 - Coming back to reality wasn't as hard as I had expected. I've been home for almost two weeks already and working
again after my one month hiatus. Since I was gone for so long I imagine it will be a few months until my next overseas trip. I must
use my canceled Iran flight's credit before the end of April, which means I have to decide where I'm going pretty soon, even
though I can purchase the flight for later this year. Right now my eyes are set on Algeria, but it seems difficult to go there as there
aren't many tourist facilities or guides so it will be difficult to organize. My next state will likely be North Carolina once the trees
get nice and green and the weather is constantly warm. I've been to North Carolina many times but never to places like Charlotte
or Nags Head. Virginia beach is also on my list, I should definitely go there sometime with my friends this summer.
4/13/08 - What did I do this weekend? I went to Baltimore Maryland, worked around the house and I met the Vice President of
Afghanistan. The 2nd VP of Afghanistan was in Virginia to have a meeting with Dick Cheney and I got a rare opportunity to
meet him. I added the photo in my Virginia page. Also added are some new photos of from a weekend trip I did to Baltimore.
Baltimore is only about an hour away but I hadn't been in almost 15 years!
5/28/08 - Tennessee, has been added to my site. I wish the weather had been better; I had many overcast days and some of the
hardest thunderstorms I've seen in years. When I did get some clear days I enjoyed Nashville and met up with an old friend in
Memphis. On future trips to Tennessee I'll make a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains my next priority. Now about new trips, I
know I've been doing a lot of talk about evil countries but I think I'll likely go to a normal destination like Germany or
somewhere else in western Europe. My main motivation is to make my Europe page worth visiting, since I have only a few
pictures and have never taken a trip there other than when I was in the military or to climb Mt. Elbrus. I think this will happen in
the summer or early fall. I hope to do a lot of traveling to other countries once I get my vacation time by up around the summer.
Welcome to my web page! My name is George and I'm someone with a huge passion for adventure and world travel. My website currently has 1,665 pictures taken in over 50 destinations from all seven continents, including three of the 'seven summits'. I have a dream of visiting every country in the world and will try my best to share my travels on this site through photos and my personal experiences. Click on a continent below to get started.
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7/8/08 - My trip to North Carolina and Virginia beach for July 4th is at an end. I stayed in Virginia for the fireworks and then
spent the rest of the time in the outer banks at the beach. For my next trip it looks like my opportunity to go to Afghanistan has
come back and this time it looks more promising than before. As of now I do expect to go, time off work has been approved
and I am in the visa process. The only thing to stop me right now is the taliban, if they continue to be evil I am worried my
contact in the country will call off the trip. A few days ago they put a big bomb at the Indian embassy that was the worst attack
in the past 5 years. Hopefully things won't get worse and I won't have to cancel. I will also visit the UAE on this trip in Sept.